The Explosive in the Situation
by asc12
Summary: A rainy day brings a new and daunting case, a moody Sweets and an explosive situation.
1. Chapter 1

ASC: Did you miss me? ;) Sorry, I was in Nawlins for a week, just getting back. I did however come up with LOTS of ideas I scribbled down while I was gone so I should have lots of Sweet stories if you are deprived.

Current Time settings so like season 9

* * *

It wasn't a good start to the day. Booth knew it as soon as he stepped in Sweets office. The young psychologist was in a mood. Booth found it a bit annoying but after a bit of prodding and the younger counterpart not answering, Booth's mood shifted towards slightly concerned.

This brought them to their new location, the diner for lunch. Booth hoped a lunch invitation would snap Sweets' disposition back into place. However Booth observed Sweets continue to shift the placement of his food around his plate more than he was eating it.

"Okay enough, I'm not the shrink but I know something's going on so out with it." Booth demanded.

Sweets attention was drawn up to him due to the fact Booth started his sentence by throwing his fork on his own plate with a 'clank.' Booth didn't seem to care as much as Sweets did at the attention Booth had drawn.

"It's nothing, it's stupid really." Sweets said trying to take an interest in his sandwich but the appetite wasn't there. It had no taste, nothing had taste.

"Well if it's so stupid then why aren't you eating and what's with the moping?"

Sweets sighed, he knew he wasn't going to be able to dissuade Booth's attention away from this.

"I appreciate your concern Booth but really it's nothing, it's stupid on my part to be so bothered by it. I'm just in a funk."

"Funk, is that an official shrink term?" Booth asked trying to tease him into a certain amount of ease.

"About as much as the word 'shrink' is." Sweets said throwing his napkin over his food, he knew there was no way he was going to eat it. "Look I'm not trying to feel sorry for myself, I'm just surrounded by happy couples, with happy homes. I'm just not there and sometimes it just bothers me and I get in a funk."

"Well you're still young Sweets, I mean a lot of us are older than you are." Booth said trying to encourage him.

"I'm not so sure that's it." Sweets said softly.

"What do you mean?" Booth asked when he didn't like the look in Sweets eyes.

Booth's phone rang and Sweets was relieved. He was pretty sure it had less to do with his age and more to do with himself, his past and a future he couldn't see. He couldn't think of any friends he really hung out with either besides the occasional lunch and after case solving drink.

"Hey, I've got a body." Booth said taking the last bite of his lunch.

"Sure. I'll get a cab back to the office." Sweets said getting up to leave and pay.

For some reason Booth didn't like the idea of Sweets going back to his dark little office in his dark little mood.

"Hey Sweets, Bones is already at the crime scene, why don't you come with me."

"Why?" The moody side of Sweets asked.

Booth tried to look past little black rain cloud. "I think you might be able to help out, check things out at the scene."

Sweets expression suggested he wasn't buying it.

"Okay, I don't think you should go back to your office and sulk."

"Booth I'm not going to. I'm fine. Really." Sweets said about as unconvincingly as humanly possible, he was near perfection at detecting lies but terrible at telling them.

Booth gave him a look as he paid for his own and Sweets stepped away, having paid for his empty stomach and left behind plate. He rolled his eyes and Booth held up a hand.

"We're going." Booth said and Sweets thought the idea of maybe being out of the office for a while might not be so bad.

* * *

The day wasn't getting all that better as the overcast day quickly switched to a rainy day by the time they got to the crime scene.

"At least it's inside." Booth said as they arrived.

Sweets hardly noticed the rain, his thoughts were still elsewhere.

"So Sweets, uh, big plans this weekend?" Booth asked as they walked up to the building. He was still somewhat concerned for the young psychologist.

"Huh? Uh, no. Probably just work on some case files. Maybe read some other case files."

"What? It's the weekend Sweets. It's time to go out and have good time." Booth said surprised. _Geez, are things really this bad for Sweets, I just assumed he did **something**_. "There's more to life than work you know."

"Oh, yeah, maybe, sure." Sweets said glad to have reached the group so they could end the awkward conversation.

"Hey Cam, Bones, bug guy, what do we got?" Booth asked approaching the group.

"Good morning Seeley." Cam said. "Oh, and Dr. Sweets." She said confused. "Why is Dr. Sweets here?"

"He's here to help us." Booth said giving her a look to try and sound a little more supportive.

"Well we would take all the help we can get." Hodgins said taking more samples.

"This looks staged." Sweets said looking over the scene.

"Yes!" Brennan said with much enthusiasm. She wasn't sure what Booth was up to by bringing Sweets but she wanted to support her partner in whatever his idea was. "We were thinking the same thing."

Sweets nodded. He was sarcastically glad he had just brought absolutely nothing to the proverbial table.

"What happened to this guy?" Booth asked.

"It appears he was light of fire, post mortem. Cause of death is still unknown." Cam explained.

"Is it just me or is he pointing to something?" Sweets asked.

They all looked at the body and considered the possibility but quickly went to talking about accelerants and other things he quickly lost interest in.

"Hey Dr. Brennan, have you taken Christine to Jumping Palace? We were thinking of taking Michael Vincent this weekend. Could be fun." Hodgins said.

"I took Michele there once when she was little." Cam said chiming in. "It was a lot of fun."

"Maybe we can discuss this later?" Booth asked but by the time he had looked up from his notepad he saw Sweets was gone. Sweets was in the distance looking around in the direction the skeletal hand was pointing.

"What's going on Booth?" Brennan asked as she watched Booth sigh.

"I'll tell you later Bones." He said lost in his thoughts.

Sweets heard their voices echo in a distance. He had a good excuse to follow the direction the hand was pointing but what just happened was what he had wanted to avoid, making the group feel awkward. He made a mental note to repress these feelings of sadness when they came up. The psychologist in him reminded him that was not a healthy approach. He abruptly told that voice to promptly shut up. He stopped and sighed at the thought that he was arguing with his inner self.

He looked around the old building which had at one point been a small mall. He thought of how the times so quickly changed from this materialistic mecca. What was once packed on the weekend with teenagers flocking to the cookie stands, girls trying to ignore the cute boys checking them out while they giggled with their friends. At least that was what Sweets assumed they were doing. As a teenager Sweets was already in college after breezing thru high school in order to achieve his double doctorates before his early twenties. Much like then, he now was not in tune with the people he was around.

* * *

"This is interesting." Hodgins said sifting thru the particulates.

"What's that Dr. Hodgins?" Cam asked.

"And in terms that like, _people_ understand." Booth instructed as he took notes.

"Do you mean like just you?" Brennan asked and Booth resisted the urge to roll his eyes, suggesting that yes, he did not understand their lab speak.

"Well what I'm seeing here is often seen in scenes congruent with explosives." He explained.

"Explosives? I thought this guy was lit on fire?" Booth asked.

"He was." Brennan stated. "The accelerant can be found all around the remains. Can you be more specific but not too specific for Booth please?"

This time Booth did roll his eyes.

"Well what I'm seeing is traces of explosive materials but they haven't been ignited yet." Hodgins explained. "It's like they were spilled after the body and flames had cooled."

"Well if we had live explosives, if even only traces I want everyone out of here." Cam said standing up now alarmed.

"Hey!" Booth shouted to the agents nearby. "Let's get this area secured and get these remains back to the Jeffersonian immediately."

Quickly the place snapped into action as the Jeffersonian team quickly assembled their samples while the FBI agents quickly donned protective gear in the event anything were to go wrong.

"Okay people, let's get going." Cam said as they followed the body being transported.

"Wait." Booth said stopping them and turned back in the other direction.

"Booth what?" Brennan said following him.

"Sweets!" He shouted over his shoulder as Brennan continued to follow him at a distance.

* * *

Sweets looked at the glass window in front of him. The mannequin with no arms looked back at him with a grin and he somehow wondered if she was mocking him. He shook his head as he realized that today he really was in a funk today if this was his train of thought.

He figured he should be getting back soon thought it seemed like they were going to be there forever going over the tiny bits of dirt and crap on the ground. Sweets paused before he turned to leave. The glass caught his attention. He wondered if his eyes were being bothered by the old moldy smell in the building. He reached out to touch the glass and felt it vibrate on his fingertips. He quickly realized there was a small tremor from under his feet thought it was less more subtle than the vibration from the glass.

The vibrations began to increase in intensity and when Sweets took a step back but before he could turn the glass exploded in front of him. Sweets was a second late in shielding his eyes and felt the tiny shards prick at his face.

He was sure not to rub his eyes and further imbed the glass. He heard more glass shatter next to where he was and then the one after. He turned to get away from the sound of the consecutive explosions but he could hardly see.

He was a few steps away but remembered there was discarded debris such as old plant stands and merchandise stands thrown about. He checked his eyes by touching them lightly and could feel there weren't any shards near them. He looked down at his hands and saw tiny cuts on his hands. The rumble behind him increased as did the floor below his feet . He remembered they walked up an unoperational escalator to get to the crime scene. He had wondered around lost in thought for so long he wasn't entirely sure how to get back to where he was.

The rumble increased and he could feel the floor start to shake to the point it was becoming difficult to stand on his feet. Sweets felt the immediate need to get out of the building. He quickly began to run away from the consecutive explosions behind him. The ceiling in front of him quickly collapsed so Sweets doubled back and saw the elevator shaft not far from him. He knew it was reinforced concrete and his only chance for safe shelter. Sweets jumped in the empty car as the cable snapped and it dropped a floor. The building around him collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

ASC: So I had a little catching up to do on other projects but now we're back on track…

* * *

"Booth!" Brennan shouted between coughs. She waved her hands upon seeing the cloud of dust in front of her. "Booth!" She called again more concerned this time at the lack of response.

As the dust settled Brennan saw a figure in a dusty white over black suit come towards her.

"Booth!" She shouted relieved. Until she saw he was pulling his leg behind him along with a trail of blood.

"Bones, you okay?" He asked while coughing among the chalky air.

"Yeah Booth I'm fine." She said catching him as he came towards her. "But you are obviously not, you're bleeding."

She assisted Booth in getting farther from the dust so they could breathe more easily. Cam, Hodgins and several agents were running towards them.

"Sir, we need to get you out of here right away." One of the agents instructed but Booth was waving his hands.

"Sweets, he's back there somewhere." Booth said now gritting his teeth at the stinging pain in his leg.

They looked back at the pile of rubble with one thought causing an empty thud in their stomachs, if Sweets was in that mess, he was gone. Booth looked back to see what they all saw and denied the same thought that ran thru his own mind.

"Sir, this place is unstable, we need to go, now." The agent reiterated.

"Just one second." Booth said pulling out his phone, he wasn't giving up on Sweets. He brought Sweets with him today, he wasn't going to be at fault for this – at least not in his own mind.

Booth knew they were looking at him like he was crazy but they seemed to think he needed to see for himself how this was going to end.

"Hello?" Sweets said with a slightly strained voice.

"Sweets!" Booth shouted and they were all surprised and relieved as the thought of grief hadn't fully set in yet. "Where are you?"

Sweets coughed a couple of times clearing the dust from his lungs.

"Are you okay? Where are you, can you hear me?" Booth asked rapidly firing his concerned questions at him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. What about you guys?"

"Yeah we're all here, we're good." Booth said breathing more evenly now.

Brennan interjected, "technically you are not okay Booth, your leg…"

"What's Dr. Brennan saying?" Sweets asked straining to hear what was going on on the other end of the phone.

"Nothing, she's, it's nothing. Now, where are you?" Booth asked again.

"Oh, I'm in an elevator shaft. I got in just as the floor collapsed. The car snapped but I guess it got lodged on something, I don't know. I felt it drop some but it stopped. I must be between floors, I think I'm cradled between cement walls so I should be pretty safe. Right?" Sweets asked now that he was thinking it over.

The team looked at each other and nodded though they didn't really know. They wanted to believe so.

"Okay Sweets, we're going to get some blue prints and some diggers and…" Booth began.

"Well I can see sunlight." Sweets said.

"What?"

"Yeah above me, maybe a vent or something. Part of the elevator ceiling popped off and I can see past the top of the elevator cab. It actually looks like one line might be attached. I could try and climb it." Sweets offered looking around at a way to climb out of the unit.

"No, Sweets, stay right where you are okay?" Booth insisted.

"The shaft would go up thru the ceiling. If we can get on the roof we should easily be able to drop in and get him!" Hodgins said, amazed at the simplicity of this rescue.

"Okay Sweets, we're getting some stuff together and we're coming for you okay?" Booth said and Sweets agreed. "Just keep your phone close okay?"

"Yeah sure." Sweets said and sat back on the elevator floor. He didn't care that he was sitting in a pile of dust, his suit was already ruined. Now he just had to wait for then to pop thru the ceiling and get him. So why did he have a bad feeling he wondered.

* * *

"Okay Hodgins, let's get some blueprints or something for this place. Angela can do that right?" Booth asked seething at the pain in his leg.

"Yes, we will get right to that, but first we are taking you down to the ambulance." Cam said assisting Brennan in getting Booth up to his feet. Booth was going to protest but Brennan stopped him.

"You will be of help to no one, including Dr. Sweets if you do not get this fixed Booth. We will get the blue prints and you will be fixed up by the time we are ready to go in." Brennan urged and Booth agreed.

* * *

Sweets sat on the floor in the center of the sun's ray. It felt more comforting to sit in the light than the dark corners. He watched the lines of the cables dangle in the air, enticing him to take them. Something inside him urged him to get up and pull himself out of the car and go. He looked back at his phone. No, Booth told him to stay put. He rationalized that the only reason he wanted out of the car unit was purely psychological, right?

* * *

"Okay, I'm pulling up the blueprints now." Angela said as she and Finn stood in her office looking at them on the screen. "You're sure Sweets is okay?"

"Yeah, it's actually pretty amazing, he's just stranded in a sea of destruction." Hodgins said waiting for the images to appear on his screen as well.

"What caused the explosion?" Angela asked.

"Could be the residue we found came in contact with something. I don't know, we're pretty focused on getting Sweets out Ange."

"Well shouldn't we be looking at that as well, I mean what if…"

"Ange, the blueprints?" Hodgins asked as an annoyed Booth was impatiently waiting.

"Okay, here they are now. It looks like there's a few elevator shafts." She explained.

"We were near the area marked as 5E and Sweets headed in that direction." Hodgins explained.

"Headed in that direction, why wasn't he with you guys?" Finn asked.

Hodgins tried to remember.

"He thought the hand was pointing to something." Booth remembered.

"The hand? Oh the remains?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, but let's get to that later." Booth said. "If he's in this elevator then we can go across the roof here."

"If it's stable." Hodgins added.

"We'll find out now won't we?" Booth said turning to leave.

He was stopped however by another rumbling sound. He stopped in his tracks as he was filled with a feeling of dread. Moments later the building not far from them was rocked with a second explosion toppling more of the structure.

Once it stopped Booth took out his phone and called Sweets, but this time it only rang.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Sweets groaned as he woke. With squinted and blurred eyes he could see a streams of light across coming in the elevator car but he felt like he had a heavy blanket on him. As he came to more he realized it was very hard to breathe or move in general. He went to wipe the dust he felt on his face away but he realized that one arm would not move. Suddenly as he became more aware, a large amount of pain shot thru his body. He gritted his teeth at the pain and with his one good arm wiped his eyes enough to open them.

He found his heavy blanket. The second explosion loosened the debris above and dropped into the lodged car. It was now full of debris, and he was buried under it. A support beam had been severed and crashed thru the ceiling of the elevator and rested across Sweets. It was then covered by pounds of small debris that was almost like a sand – ground cement and other debris from the mall that filtered in to the shaft like a funnel. Most of the ceiling was gone and he now could see thru the top of the shaft well now.

Sweets was pressed against the wall of the car in a sitting position, pinned in place, one arm buried under the beam, which was buried under the heavy debris.

Sweets tried to move some of it with his one free hand but moving his arm much sent a deep pain thru his side and he knew his ribs must have been either cracked or fractured when the beam pinned him down.

Sweets had to be glad that his head was above the debris and he could breathe, mostly. He coughed a few more times as the fine dust in the air finally settled. He heard a sound and realized his phone was ringing. He was relieved but the feeling quickly went away when he realized his phone was buried, under the debris, out of reach. He thought the sound was coming from around his foot and he tried to search for it but his leg struck something sharp cutting it on what must have been a piece of metal so he stopped. Still the thought of being trapped here, or enduring another explosion that he would surely not survive encouraged him to try and stretch his good arm towards the phone again. The motion forward however applied too much pressure to his chest. He finally relented when he was about to pass out from the pain and lack of oxygen.

It occurred to him that if he couldn't tell him he was down here, they wouldn't have reason to come and look. He had to think of something.

* * *

"Sir you've called a dozen times." The agent said to Booth.

"We have to check." Booth said giving up on the phone.

"Sir it's much too unstable and we don't know if there will be any additional explosions."

"I'm going anyway." Booth said turning to limp in the direction of Sweets elevator.

"Sir," The agent said stopping him. "I can't let you do that, there isn't even a roof to go across anymore."

"You do have devices that can go in though, right?" Cam said and the agent nodded.

"I'll send in the device. If we can a read on your guy somehow surviving we'll go in – IF you people can assure me there won't be any more explosions." The agent said and they nodded.

"I don't like that guy." Booth said after he was gone.

"You don't like that's he's in charge while you are injured." Brennan said looking over Booth's bandage again. He needed to go to a hospital but he would have none of it until they got Sweets out.

"So let's figure out what the hell is going on so we can get Sweets out." Booth said and they began to pull up the evidence in their makeshift lab.

"Angela, are you still there?" Cam asked in her typical even tone.

"Um, yeah, I guess I am."

"Ange, you okay?" Hodgins asked sorting thru the evidence so they could examine it onsite, they didn't want to waste any time heading back to the Jeffersonian.

"Sweets, he, how could he, you know, two explosions." She stammered over her words.

"He's in there, he's alive. I know it." Booth said.

They nodded and hoped he was right as they went to work.

"While he's setting up the device we need to do our job. If we can figure out what happened we can figure out if there are any more explosions." Cam suggested in her 'level as always' voice.

"Right, do we have any idea who this guy was?" Booth asked.

"I'm running some partials now." Cam said putting some samples thru a machine under the makeshift tent. "Angela, can you run these thru your database?"

Angela nodded and immediately did so. Finn waited by her side anxious to do something to help.

"What about the explosion, how did those happen?" Finn asked.

"I had detected trace amounts of this material." Hodgins said scanning it once Cam was done. "But these trace amounts were not enough to trigger an explosion.

"In the area we were in." Booth clarified.

"Right." Hodgins said thinking. "The area the body was in was not the center of the blast."

They went back to the blue prints to study the area. The agent from before stopped in to inform them the robot was headed in to detect signs of life. The group nodded as the monitor was set next to them. They went back to work.

"The area of the blast is where Sweets was." Brennan observed.

"Which is why the hand was pointing towards the blast. The killer wanted us to find the body, he wanted to body preserved. He wants us to know who this guy is." Cam said excited and surprised.

"And I can tell you who he is. Ronald Fowler, he is a developer." Angela said over the computer screen.

"So the killer doesn't like rich guys?" Booth asked.

"Looks like he owned the mall that was being torn down." Finn said reading the profile on the screen on their side.

"This hand was meant to lead someone in the direction of that blast." Brennan observed. "He wanted a second victim."

"Well he's not getting one." Booth said with gritted teeth.

"Guys," Angela began in a voice that was not all that comforting. "I've got our killer."

They watched as she clicked her tablet and a video came up. A man with unkempt hair and wild eyes appeared on the screen in a cluttered room where he was obviously positioned before a web cam.

"I know you have found my trail of crumbs. You have by no surprise discovered Mr. Fowler. That beast of a man represents what is wrong in this country. That mall once sat on fifty acres of lush farm land. Turned into a materialistic paradise only to fall into ruin. And what did you learn? Only to build a newer one but instead of an "inside mall" you'll make it a "marketplace." And still nothing is learned. Well I am here to teach you. And if you think I'll only focus my rage on wealthy developers then I hope now you will see how wrong you are. The death of your fellow agent should prove you wrong. It took two blasts but I'm not hearing a peep out of him this time."

Though he couldn't see them the group froze. Booth was filled with a feeling of guilt as they all knew that what tipped the psycho off to Sweets survival was the phone call.

"Now I'm sure you're asking yourselves what I want." The man continued. "I want the American government to take control of our economy and stop this madness. If you do not then you will find more of the same, and their blood will be on your hands."

With a click the man turned the image off.

"Don't ask, I've already tried to track it." Angela said once the video was over. "It went viral a few seconds before I showed it to you guys. I'm sure it will be on the news in seconds."

"Do you think he was right, that Sweets is dead?" Finn asked.

"He must have something in there where he's picking up on sounds. He heard the conversation before and he hears nothing now." Hodgins proposed.

"So what is this guy, some sort of domestic terrorist?" Angela asked.

Booth rubbed his head as he processed all the information. "We'll get homeland security on that. Right now we stay on Sweets."

"You think he's…" Brennan began but was stopped by Booth.

They heard what he had, a distinct light sound. They turned to find it was coming from the monitoring device the agent had left to detect signs of life. They went closer to it to hear a distinct tapping pattern.

"It's Sweets!" Brennan said surprisingly overwhelmed with a sense of relief. That quickly dissipated after a moment. "If we can hear him then…"

"Let's go." Booth shouted as they left the tent though the tapping they longed to hear, they prayed would stop for a third blast would be only a body recovery.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Yay! Look what I found! More story now….

_Sugar. No that doesn't sound right. Something….Sweets. Yes!_ Sweets was relieved, he knew his name. A wave a nausea crossed him but he held it down. He was not going to throw up and be forced to smell it he decided. Not while he was pinned in place. _Lance Sweets. Dr. Lance Sweets._ He sighed a moment. Why was that so hard to remember? Sweets looked at his hand on the metal door which was pulled tightly. He was trying to remember what he was doing. Was he tapping? Why was he here?

He hadn't felt this strange before. He pulled his hand up to his head which was pounding and something felt almost, crunchy. He pulled his one free hand back and saw dried blood. He started to remember an explosion, being trapped, another explosion, tapping.

He was filled with a feeling of being worried that he couldn't remember anything and the realization shot out to him - head injury. _Uh oh._ He thought to himself. _This is not helping the situation any. _He turned his hand to go back to tapping but he wasn't sure how long he had done it already. Had he been tapping for seconds or hours before he stopped? If he had been tapping for hours why had no one come for him? Didn't they tell him to stay put? _That was terrible advice. If I had climbed out the first time….you might have caved thru the roof….and now you're almost buried alive. Oh stop talking Lance, you're not helping yourself any._

* * *

"Agent Booth." A man stopped Booth and the rest of the team as they were assembling a number of items. Booth stopped and turned to the man. "I'm Agent Allen Carson. We've gone thru the information provided you gave us on this guy. His name is Wilson Thompson. He's been on our watch list for a while but he has really upped his game."

Booth nodded but he really wanted to get back to his work.

"I understand a rescue is being put in place." The man continued and Booth nodded, he wanted to get back to that place. "I'd like for you to take charge of this investigation Agent Booth. Track this guy down ASAP before he takes down someone else. Your whole team is invaluable."

Booth stopped. Being the lead on a homeland security case was a huge feather in Booth's cap. The team stopped and listened, they knew what an honor it was, for all of them really.

"We'll get another team on Dr. Sweets very quickly, I understand you heard some tapping." Agent Carson added encouragingly. Booth had the feeling that the rescue team would not be making Sweets their priority as much as the terrorist threat.

"Yes, but it's since stopped." Breannan said and went back to her equipment.

The man began to talk again but Booth held out his hand to shake Agent Carson's.

"Sir it's an honor that you thought of me for this. But I'd like to stay on this. One of my people is in there. And while I'm sure another team would try very hard, I'm sorry I can't leave it to anyone else. Our team here can get back on that and help you as need but right now, we have to do this." Booth looked to the team who nodded in agreement.

"Well, I…uh…." The agent fell over his words in shock that someone would turn down such an opportunity. After a moment he got it. "I understand. I have people too. I'll reassign it." He nodded and turned to leave but stopped. "How can I help?

"What's our plan?" Booth asked seeing what everyone had assembled.

"Perhaps Agent Carson could help us in issuing a statement to the news." Cam suggested.

"Yes, that would beneficial." Brennan began. "We want the killer to think that Agent Sweets has indeed been found dead. That way we can work to rescue him with reduced risk of further explosions."

"Do you think there are more in there?" Carson asked.

"Anything is possible with this guy." Booth said.

"We would also like for the news helicopters above to not be taping while we go in for this. Or at least to be notified and broadcast that it is a body recovery." Brennan added.

"What about this man's family, don't they need to be notified before they see this on the news?" Carson asked.

"I think we're all here." Booth added and the man understood that Sweets had no family that would be learning of the fabled death.

"I'll take care of it. Let me know if you need more." Carson said leaving.

The team turned back to the screen.

"Angela, were you able to put everything together, can you guestimate where Sweets and the elevator car are?" Booth asked turning back to the screen.

"Okay based on the images I've gotten between the photos and the live coverage before and after both blasts, combined with the blue prints I've got this. It's a bit crude but I'm in a hurry." She explained as she brought a computer rendering up on the screen.

"Okay here is the building before the blast. And here is Sweets running into the elevator as the first explosion went off and Sweets description to you after." She said as a non-descript figure that represented Sweets jumped in to the car and after the building collapsed some was still free in the car though it had dropped some.

"And based on the images and the blueprints, here is what Finn and I came up with after the second explosion." Angela said as the simulation began showing Sweets car being rocked then crashed in with the beam and the debris filling in like a flipped hourglass.

Booth swallowed hard, the visualization was worse than he had imagined. The undescriptive figure was still Sweets to him and he was trapped.

"Since Sweets is tapping I'm assuming his head is still above this debris." Angela added though in a near whisper as they all held back a cringe at the sight.

"All of that weight on Sweets is definitely restricting his breathing." Brennan added examining the footage.

"Change of plan." Booth said.

"What do you mean?" Hodgins asked.

"We're not sending the robot down, I'm going down there." Booth said looking for the repelling equipment in the rescue gear.

"No, Booth, we can't if the killer sees you going down there he will suspect something." Brennan said interjecting.

"Not he wears this." She said holding out a jacket that read "Coroner" on the back. "If he sees the footage, hears the news release it's just a body recovery."

"What about more explosions?" Brennan asked torn between wanting Booth to go and not wanting him to go.

A tapping sound came over the rescue monitor again. The team froze as they heard it. Again filled with relief that Sweets was alive, again overwhelmed with the fact they may not be the only ones to hear it.

"Let's go." Booth said leaving with the gear.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

Sweets wasn't sure if it was still sunny, it looked cloudy, maybe dark again. He was pretty sure it looked like rain this morning. He wondered if it was still the same day. All he wanted to do was keep tapping, different intervals so they knew it wasn't mechanical, it was human, it was him.

Maybe it was the head injury, maybe it was the shortness of breath but he was pretty sure that telling the difference between what was real and what wasn't was becoming a stretch. This thought was solidified when he was pretty sure he saw someone coming towards him.

"Slow." Booth said into the microphone to above where the team, under the guise of the coroner's office stood on the rickety landing that remained over the elevator shaft. There was little room on the only space that was left, the rest of the building lay below. The makeshift plank to the shaft was even unsettling.

The team could see little below so they positioned a camera over the shaft so Angel see perhaps more than they could with her gadgets. Another camera was on Booth's helmet to see anything as he descended. She jotted down measurements pointed out concerns to Finn who documented them.

"Almost to the car." Booth said being lowered from the harness into shaft with metal protruding everywhere. He carefully maneuvered past them and was soon to the elevator cab.

"Okay stop." Booth said. He kept in mind everything he said in case the killer was listening. He had a feeling the killer was occupying himself with the next crime though he couldn't be sure on that. He was sure they were on borrowed time as it was.

"Sweets." Booth whispered as he maneuvered past the last of the metal to see Sweets, pinned to the wall, buried in debris. The open gash on Sweets head deeply concerned him. Sweets had stopped tapping shortly before they had mounted the elevator shaft.

Booth repeated his name and Sweets slowly turned his head and blinked his eyes as he narrowed them to see who was there. He saw a figure floating into the shaft. Booth noticed Sweets seemed a little out of it.

"Whoa, are you an angel?" Sweets asked.

"I'm no angel kid." Booth said back as he hovered over Sweets buried self.

"How are you doing?" Booth asked but he noticed Sweets was nodding off again. "Hey, stay with me." He whispered again.

"Booth, can we get a confirmation on how things are uh, going?" Cam asked trying to remain non-specific in her message.

"I'm here. I'd say not great." Booth said looking back at Sweets.

"Am I seeing that gash correctly?" Angela asked trying to zoom in from images on Booth's headset.

"What kind of gash?" Cam asked over the radio, unable to see.

"Guys, we don't have a lot of time here." Booth reminded them.

"Right." Angela said using the camera to continue to survey the scene. "Booth I need you to slowly look around so I can survey the whole place."

Booth did as instructed.

"No one's coming." Sweets said.

"What? Sweets, I'm right here." Booth said.

"No one's coming." Sweets said again and Booth realized Sweets wasn't looking at him.

The harness Booth was on wasn't comfortable but he knew he had no intention of leaving Sweets in this car alone.

"Hey! Hey Sweets!" Booth said trying to get his attention. Booth tried to get close to tap Sweets to try and get his attention but he was out of reach.

"Can you drop me down a little further?" Booth asked over the microphone.

"Booth if you touch down you might put too much pressure on him. I don't know what's under there." Angela said looking at all the debris. "You could step on something that pushes on something and stabs into Sweets."

Booth sighed as he dangled helplessly above. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Just give me a second." Angela said computing the fragments in the area.

In what seemed like a long time Booth waited and dangled, feeling his legs grow tingly in the suspension. The team above waited, wondering if they had been detected.

Booth watched as Sweets slowly but laboriously breathed.

"Tell them thank you." Sweets said though his eyes stayed shut.

"What?" Booth asked surprised to even hear Sweets mumble.

"Tell everyone, Booth, Dr. Brennan, Angela, Cam, maybe Hodgins, tell them thanks. It was nice to have a family again. I hope that…"

"No, no, no Sweets, these sound like goodbyes, and we're not…"

"It's okay." Sweets said, softer this time. "It's too hard to say, to brea…" Sweets head began to tilt more to the side and Booth felt a panic. Quickly he loosened several straps and he wasn't so concerned about crushing Sweets as he landed on the debris pile as he was losing him all together.

Booth trudged closer to Sweets and quickly began to pull away the rubble of sandy cement and metal chips, ignoring the cuts to his own hands. He stopped when he reached a beam.

The removal of some rubble allowed Sweets to breathe slightly more easily but Booth knew he had only bought him minutes, not hours needed to get him out.

"Angela, I need something now." Booth said.

"Booth!" Angela shouted and Booth stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had the feeling he was being watched. He didn't know how, but he felt like the killer was back and was watching now.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

***Don't think it's my best. But it's got to get an ending…

* * *

Booth looked around for some sign that he was being monitored. If it was only a listening device he could play it off. He looked back at Sweets just as his lips were beginning to move. Booth quickly put his hand over Sweets mouth to keep him from saying a word.

"The removal of the body will take some time." Angela said cautiously as though it were a run of the mill routine. "You are going to need another individual to drop down to help and come with a saw."

"Then we can remove the corpse?" Booth asked looking at Sweets who looked back wondering why his mouth was covered and curious if he was actually dead.

"Removal of the main beam should allow for transport." Angela said feeling as though the killer were practically right behind her.

"I'll get the tool." Hodgins said listening in as Brennan prepared to repel down into the shaft.

"What are you doing?" Cam asked.

"It's pretty obvious I'm…" Brennan began.

"I'm assumed we would send Hodgins down there." Cam said.

"That would be a bad assumption. I would be less heavy than Dr. Hodgins thus decreasing the weight in the car and on Dr. Sweets as well as the fact that Hodgins will be a greater help on top to assist in removing us from the scene." Brennan explained.

Hodgins returned with the saw and the attached to the rope it in order to slowly lower it down.

"Hey guys, this uh, body is really starting to deteriorate." Booth said into the microphone.

Hodgins, Cam & Brennan looked to each other knowing that Booth was saying that Sweets medical condition was deteriorating.

"I'm coming down to assist." Brennan said and slowly began her own descent.

"I'm calling for back up." Hodgins said to Cam, keeping words short.

"That's fine but where do you think they will be standing?" Cam asked knowing the remote space available on the tiny platform.

The sun had ceased to shine as dark storm clouds ushered in at a quicker pace. The pair on top decided to connect themselves to the tall desolate platform should the winds continue to increase with the force it was suggesting it could. They hoped that Booth and Brennan would hurry as the storm continued to brew.

"What's going on up there?" Booth asked Brennan as she arrived.

"It appears a storm is moving in." Brennan asked approaching Sweets and immediately evaluating the head wound.

"That's going to be helpful." Booth said looking up at the clouds that were mounting.

"Booth." Brennan said but wasn't sure how to say what she wanted without being detected.

"I know." Booth said recognizing her look of concern. "Let's get to work."

Quickly they continued what Booth had started in digging Sweets out. Brennan had brought thick gloves allowing them to clear the rest of the rubble without further cuts to their hands. While both were concerned with the fact that Sweets had passed back out it did allow them to work faster. Brennan continued to monitor his pulse and breathing at intervals. Soon they had unearthed the upper half of Sweets to see that his arm and chest were pinned by a large cross beam that grinded into the metal sides of the elevator immobilizing Sweets.

"Any suggestions Angela?" Booth asked.

"I'd suggest the far corner, it's away from Swee… the body and should release enough tension to get him out. It's going to be heavy Booth."

Booth nodded and turned on the loud saw that echoed in the metal walled car. Sweets' eyes shot open at the sound which caused an intense headache. He saw Dr. Brennan who put a finger to her lips for him to be quiet which he thought was strange amidst the noise that was going on.

Booth pushed the saw down on the metal which pushed in closer to Sweets. He saw Sweets cringe at the pressure and backed off. Rain drops began to fall into the car. Booth and Brennan looked at each other knowing they had no time.

Brennan grabbed Sweets free hand though she knew it was going to offer little support to offset the pain that he was about to endure. Booth pressed again on the saw and Brennan put her hand to Sweets mouth to stifle any sounds Sweets would make. Brennan felt tears prick at her eyes having to do so.

In what seemed like forever to both partners, the saw continued to cut as the rain began to steadily fall. Angela watched the rain pop off the metal sparks from the camera while Finn tried to tell her everything was going pretty well. Cam and Hodgins glanced down from above, waiting, impatiently.

Finally the saw broke thru and the metal relaxed in two pieces. Brennan backed out of the way as Booth strained to move the large piece away and off Sweets. As he sat down the beam the car bounced. They both paused forgetting about the weight shift.

The car steadied and their attention was drawn back to Sweets who was coughing. Booth and Brennan began to cough to mask the sound. Sweets passed out again.

"Wow, lots of dust now." Booth said feeling like ears were still listening in.

"Yeah, let's get this body out and go home." Brennan added. A thought occurred to them then.

"How?" Booth asked soundlessly with his lips.

The answer came as an object floated down to them from Cam. Booth held it in his hands and looked up with a question of "really?" as he looked back at the body bag. He did not like this idea. Brennan pondered it as well, they would go undetected but if Sweets woke up again he would surely freak out finding himself in a body bag.

The rain continued to fall making a mess of the sandy debris in the car, they knew they had to make a decision soon.

"I don't know that the bag can make it up laying flat. There's a few pieces of metal it can get caught on." Booth said looking up the shaft only to have water drip in his eyes.

"Guys we would really like to hurry." Cam shouted down as she watched lightning move in as she was standing on the all metal structure.

"Okay, I have an idea. But one of us has to go second." Brennan said folding the body bag over her arm. Booth nodded that it would be him.

She pulled Sweets up who stirred again. Again she motioned for him to be quiet. Confused he still complied putting his trust in her. Booth and her strapped Sweets in the harness.

"Okay, we're ready." Brennan instructed and the cord began to repel up.

Sweets was unable to hold steady so Brennan held him close as they slowly ascended to the roof area. She manuvered them around metal shards but she was concerned with tranporting Sweets this way. She would have never suggested it had they not been in such dire straights to get out. In the near sitting position Sweets was in a great deal of pressure was being placed on his fractured chest. His head bobbed around and she could only imagine the pain he was trying to suppress. Once they neared the top she signaled for Hodgins to stop short.

"Sweets." Brennan mouthed to him after tapping his arm. With a face filled with pain and confusion she continued to soundlessly communicate with him. She knew he could read her lips as she said, "I need you to trust me on this."

Sweets didn't know what she was going to ask but he gave a small nod. Brennan unfolded the body bag. And scooped in Sweets feet. He watched as the bag wrapped around him and Brennan had to look away while she zipped it up.

Sweets tried to steady his breathing at the fact he was in what he knew what it was all too well. Brennan wished she could say something to make it better for him but she couldn't without being detected.

Hodgins continued to pull the bag up thru the top. He knew what was going on but he couldn't help but be creeped out by it all the same. The harness straps came thru the top of the bag. So Hodgins opened the bag part way to take them off Sweets.

As he opened the bag he saw Sweets eyes wide with terror. Hodgins didn't dare smile or say anything as a news helicopter flew by. He merely went to work knowing that Sweets was staring at him the whole time. Sweets didn't move a muscle and wondered what was going on though. He was already thoroughly confused from the head injury, the memories and fluid thoughts came and went. With the harness free and Dr. Brennan now free from her own repelling equipment she waved for the men waiting to come across the tiny makeshift plank that lead out to the stranded shaft. She dropped the line back down to Booth who clipped onto it.

Hodgins heaved a heavy sigh as he zipped the bag again, just short of the top leaving some air movement. He couldn't look at Sweets as he zipped the bag.

"I'll accompany the body." Cam said the men reached their side of the shaft. Cam began to cross the plank as the men picked up the bag.

"That's too bad, I thought they said the guy survived both blasts." The one agent said to Hodgins. Hodgins eyes widened at the man who had apparently not been informed of the situation.

"Go!" Brennan shouted as the men carried the bag across the thin plank as fast as they could in the pouring rain. "Go!" She shouted to Hodgins who stalled but she repeated it a second time and he followed the group across the wet plank.

"Booth!" Brennan shouted as the terrible feeling overcame her and a rumble came under her feet.


	7. Chapter 7

So this is really short but it's a good break before the next chapter.

* * *

7.

Booth was near the top as the rumble of small explosions began under Brennan's feet.

"Get out of here Bones!" Booth shouted near the top. Brennan was clearly not leaving without Booth.

As he pulled himself out of the shaft she was busy unbuckling him. Once free they ran for the plank thru the heavy rain.

Nearly across to the other side Brennan slipped on the now wet surface and slid to the edge. She quickly swung her legs around to be back on the plank to see Booth heading across but the last remains of the building and shaft were exploding. Brennan turned to run just as Booth caught up to her. The plank was collapsing underfoot as they both jumped for the edge of the roof.

Brennan's hand slipped as Booth caught her back forcing her forward. Hodgins and Cam pulled her the rest of the way up. Booth's hand slipped as the three grabbed him and slowly pulled him on the neighboring roof top. They glanced back at the now completely decimated mall.

Breathing heavily Booth looked around. "Where's Sweets?" He asked.

The four of them looked around to see the two stunned agents who had carried Sweets away were standing in awe of the explosion and race from it, with crumbled body bag next to them.

The quartet scrambled to the men.

"That was incredible." The two said in awe as the group approached. "Whoa? What? The body's…"

"Still alive dumbass." Booth said angry as the struggled to unzip the bag, his adrenaline still pulsating.

As soon as Booth unzipped it he saw Sweets, unmoving and staring as the side of the bag. He was clearly out of it as Booth tried to get his attention.

"Sweets, hey. Sorry about the bag buddy." Booth said trying to bring Sweets back to earth but wasn't having much success. "Hey Sweets, we didn't want to, we had to get you out of there, and this was the only way."

Booth looked at Sweets sad expression and realized it wasn't just a despondent look, it was a pale and ailing look.

"Sweets?" Booth asked as Sweets closed his eyes. "Sweets!"

Booth heard Hodgins call for the ambulance but he too suddenly felt a bit tired.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

Sweets tongue felt funny. It was the first thing he noticed as he came to. It tasted metallic so he knew it must have been some sort of pain killer or something. He went to touch his head but his arm wouldn't move.

He moved with a jolt, recalling the last time he woke with an immobile arm he was trapped.

"Hey, Sweets it's okay." Booth said in a calm and yet regular every day sounding voice.

Sweets found his other arm moved quite well and rubbed his eyes. The lights were bright and caused Sweets a headache.

"Can we turn those off?" Sweets asked continuing to rub his eyes.

"I could but I can't get to them." Booth said.

Sweets squeaked an eye open far enough to look in the direction that Booth's voice was coming from. He turned to his left and saw a figure next to him.

As his eyes focused he wasn't so sure if he was seeing things again because he was pretty sure that Booth was in a hospital bed next to him.

"What?" Sweets said. He wasn't even sure how to formulate the many questions he had.

"How are you feeling?" Booth asked setting down whatever it was he was reading.

"Terrible." Sweets said leaning back against the elevated bed. "Wait, why are you here, why am I here? What…"

"Explosion." Booth said and after a moment Sweets nodded his head.

"I remember, some things." Sweets said trying to piece it all together.

"Yeah, well you got trapped in the elevator car. But we got you out." Booth said with a smile. He hoped Sweets didn't remember how, meaning via the body bag. He couldn't tell if he remembered or not.

Sweets touched his head and felt a bump and what felt like a few stitches.

"Don't worry, Bones made them do multiple CAT scans. She was there for them all. They came back fine, some something but they fixed it. I didn't hear the whole thing. And your arm is fractured and some ribs. But you'll recover. The team is on it. I think that's one reason they put us in the same room. The squints were driving them crazy. Cam was the worst, next to Bones of course."

"Well sure, you're her husband why wouldn't she be?" Sweets said while timidly touching his side which felt like it was on fire.

"It wasn't just me Sweets." Booth said with a grin meaning Brennan was worried for Sweets too. Booth picked up his comic book and continued to read.

Sweets decided not to elaborate on the sentiment any and leave it as it was, a nice and affectionate sentiment.

"What are you reading?" Sweets asked.

"Oh Hodgins brought you some comics." Booth said and Sweets noticed the stack Booth was hoarding. "But you were asleep so I decided to read them all, twice. Bones will only bring me novels." Booth said with a sigh.

"So why are you here?" Sweets asked thinking back to his original question.

"Infection." Booth said pointing to his leg which was heavily wrapped. "Got a cut but it got worse."

"Why didn't you get it treated?" Sweets asked thinking that didn't seem like Booth.

"I was a little busy." Booth said hiding behind the Superman comic. "Say where is Smallville?"

Sweets knew this was Booth's way of changing the conversation for which he had no energy to do anything but change along with it.

"Well, it's generally accepted that Smallville is in Kansas." Sweets explained as the two continued to banter back and forth. Brennan smiled as she watched, having been undetected from by the door.

"Hey Booth." Brennan said in a whisper waking him.

"Hey Bones. What's going on?" Booth said sitting up. He looked over at Sweets who was still sound asleep.

"I came to tell you that you can go home now. The doctors are satisfied that the infection and fever have gone down so they are releasing you today." Brennan explained.

"Oh, already?" Booth asked.

"Well it's been three days Booth." Brennan said surprised. "I'm surprised, you usually don't want to be in hospitals."

"I don't, it's just that, uh…" Booth stammered for a moment. "What about Sweets, when does he leave?"

"Not for a couple of more days." Brennan said. "They are still a bit concerned with his breathing and if he breathed in any asbestos."

"Oh." Booth said thinking. "Did I breathe in any?"

"Your exposure would not have been the same as Dr. Sweets, wait, what are you getting at Booth? You never want to stay in hospitals."

"No I don't, I just don't want to leave Sweets here by himself. He's alone enough as it is." Booth said fiddling with the multi-hundred page novel Brennan had left him. Sweets read it. Booth had to smile as he remembered yesterday when Sweets tried to explain the novel to Booth so he could pretend like he had read it to Brennan but it was no use.

"It is possible that you could have been exposed to some chemicals." Brennan said with a smirk. "It would be best to check it out." She added heading out of the room. "And I'll get an update on Dr. Sweets condition as well."

"No, no, no…" a murmur came from Sweets side of the room.

"Sweets, what's up?" Booth said but Sweets was still deep in sleep and increasingly upset about something.

"No, no, don't, I'm still alive, I'm still here…." Sweets said moving more to the point Booth was afraid he might reinjure his ribs.

Booth scurried out of bed and limped over towards Sweets. He gently shook Sweets awake. Sweets eyes flew open as he reached for something that wasn't there and stopped once he realized he was awake.

"Sweets, you okay?" Booth said, filled with concern.

"Yeah." Sweets said clearing his throat trying to regain his composure. "Sorry, I, uh, it's nothing." Sweets said but Booth saw his hands still had a tremor, a post traumatic stress indicator.

"Well, if it's nothing tell me about it." Booth said.

"Nothing, just a bad dream is all." Sweets said.

"You know it's not uncommon Sweets, I'm sure you've seen PTSD cases a lot of time, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I remember Booth, I remember the bag." Sweets said resting his head back against the pillow and not looking at Booth.

"Oh." Booth said stepping back.

"It's okay Booth, I don't blame you." Sweets said clearing it up. "I just haven't quite gotten past it yet." Sweets said and looked at Booth. "But I will."

Booth hoped so but he couldn't quite imagine now that he had time to reflect what it would be like, with a head injury to find your friend zipping you into a body bag.

"Good news!" Brennan said. "Booth, what are you doing up?" She asked heading to help him back to bed.

"I was helping Sweets, he dropped the uh, remote." Booth said and Booth knew it was a terrible lie since the remote was attached to the bed with a cord. She nodded anyway choosing to not make a topic out of it.

"Good news, both you AND Dr. Sweets are being released tomorrow." She added with a smile. "Booth you can go back to work the following day but Sweets has to stay home and rest."

"You sure that's best?" Booth asked, now a little more concerned than he was before.

"Yeah I think it is." Sweets said. "It's quiet at home, I always hated how noisy hospitals are."

Booth wondered why Sweets referred to hospitals as though he had been in them often. He briefly remembered a moment years back with Gordon Gordon and a revelation to a not so sweet childhood for the young psychologist. It seemed a bit darker now than what he had briefly imagined previously.

Sweets yawned and Booth figured Sweets would be happier at home and Booth knew he would be happier back with Brennan and Christine.

"Hey, what about the case, did you guys find who did it?" Sweets asked.

"Homeland security took over the case and they had a lead on the guy." Booth explained. Sweets nodded and fell back asleep. Booth wondered how that case was going after all and was suddenly anxious to get back to work.


	9. Chapter 9

9.

ASC: Sorry, the move has been a deterrent towards writing. Let's get this one figured out…

* * *

The next day Booth and Brennan dropped Sweets at home with promises that they would all coming by later to check in. Back in the car, Brennan resumed driving. Booth insisted on going by the bureau to check on the case. Brennan finally relented when he promised to only be an hour. Something kept nagging at Booth and he wanted to know what was going on with the case.

"I should tell you something." Brennan added on their way. Booth wasn't so sure he liked her lackadasical approach to what was usually big news. "Homeland security assigned the Jeffersonian the case, under Agent Carson."

"What?" Booth asked surprised. "And you didn't tell me because…"

"Because it was best that you recover. Besides we were just doing the same work we usually do for you. It's no big deal Booth."

While Booth begged to differ he wasn't sure why. He was incredibly interested in what was new with Agent Carson.

* * *

Booth quickly located Agent Carson who noticed Booth's relaxed attire.

"Agent Booth, I wasn't aware we would see you so soon." Agent Carson greeted him with a handshake that Booth returned. He had no ill will towards the man.

"I wanted to see how the case was going. I understand the Jeffersonian team has been helping." Booth said trying to keep any sort of "tone" out of his voice.

"Yes, I hope you don't mind." Agent Carson said picking up on a hint of apprehension from Booth. "They have been a great asset. I know they wanted to finish what we started. We actually have an exciting new development."

"Yes, I just got a text from Cam that Angela and Hodgins may have found something?" Brennan asked.

"Yes, bright girl that one. She did some searches with some things your bug guy found and got us a possible location on our killer. Brilliant really. I've got a team going out there now." Carson explained.

"I'd like to go." Booth said.

Carson smiled a kind smile. "I appreciate that Agent Booth but the team has already left. Besides, you are technically on medical leave until tomorrow." The agent noticed the look in Booth's eyes. The look that read he wanted to finish what he started and see it thru.

"But I can offer a compromise. If this pans out, I'd like you to join me in the interrogation room." Carson offered and Booth smiled.

Carson left to get an update while Booth turned back to Brennan.

"Should we tell Sweets?" Brennan asked.

"No, let's let him get some sleep, he still looked really tired when we dropped him off." Booth suggested and Brennan nodded.

"Sweets refusal to not take the pain medication is not a wise decision." She added in her usual way.

"Yeah but I understand, they make you tired and loopy." Booth said thinking of his own lack of desire to take them.

"Agent Booth!" Carson said approaching them with a wide smile. "Good news, he's on his way."

Booth wanted to feel relief that the psycho was in custody but something continued to nag.

* * *

While Wilson Thompson, the domestic terrorist was on his way to F.B.I. headquarters Booth had time to get to his office and find a suit that he had stashed away. Brennan took the time to head back to the lab to be a communication line there in case Booth had anything for her there.

"Agent Booth, ready?" Agent Carson asked outside the door. Booth nodded. "Beware, this guy hasn't bathed in a very long time." Carson warned and Booth had a hard time masking the disgusted look on his face.

"Oh this is a shame." Wilson cooed.

"What is that?" Booth asked taking a seat along with Carson across from the malodorous wild eyed terrorist.

"I had hoped one of you would be, what was his name, Agent Sweets?" The way Wilson said it made Booth want to punch him. "He got away from me, I thought I had him." Wilson hissed and smiled. Cason didn't know Sweets well but he was by all means another agent so Carson wanted to punch him as well. However letting him go on a technicality wasn't an even trade for such an action.

"Well you are stuck with us today." Booth said in a cool manner brushing off the psycho. "Now why don't you tell us a little more about yourself Mr. Thompson."

Wilson sat back in his chair as though he were getting comfortable.

"No." Wilson said holding steady with a look that suggested he wasn't talking anymore. "I only want to talk to my missed victim."

"Well too bad, you're stuck with us." Booth said. Carson watched the exchange between Booth and Wilson. They were both stubborn.

"Why do you have such an interest in speaking with Dr. Sweets?" Carson asked.

"Doctor?" Wilson said surprised. "See I'm learning more all the time." He chuckled. "No one misses my intentions, I'd like to talk to the man who did."

"Well, I guess we're done here then." Booth said standing up and Carson followed. He had allowed Booth to take the lead and found the agent's lead to be interesting. He decided to follow it thru.

"Oh I don't think we're quite as done as you might hope." Wilson added running his hands along the edge of the table.

"We have plenty on you, you're going away for a long, long time." Booth said taking his folder to leave.

"Okay, I guess you want their blood on your hands." Wilson said and he got the desired stop he was looking for.

"Bluffing." Booth said turning around but not sitting.

"I could hear you in that building, you didn't think I didn't know you were coming for me? I was ready. I left a lot of things in places, things I could turn on with a switch before I left home. I was waiting for you." Wilson added.

"So what do you have planned?" Carson asked, impatient to know.

"A bomb, a big one this time, a big splash. The F.B.I. will have a lot of blood on it its hands if it doesn't listen to what I want." Wilson added.

"And that is?" Carson asked.

"I told you, Dr. Sweets, here, for a conversation."

Booth left the room and Carson followed.

"What's that all about?" Carson asked Booth, both more anxious now than either were showing in the room.

"I don't know but it's not good." Booth said.

"Do you think he's bluffing?" Carson asked.

"I doubt it. We've got to find that bomb." Booth said dialing Brennan.

"Well that's pretty easy, we get Dr. Sweets." Carson said simply causing Booth to hang up his phone.

"No." Booth said emphatically. "He's got something up his sleeve. After what Sweets has been thru I'm not exposing him to that psycho."

"Well I'm not willing to expose the general public to an explosion Agent Booth." Carson said more forcefully this time.

The fact wasn't lost on Booth but he also knew that putting Sweets, who wasn't better yet and still in fragile state after not only a head injury but the trauma of being stuffed in a body bag, by Booth. He wasn't willing to sacrifice Sweets and the years of help yet to come from Sweets at the sudden request of a known psychotic.

"Give my team some time to find the bomb." Booth offered. "Wilson wants the attention, he's not going to do anything yet. Let my people find it and if we can't then we call Sweets."

Carson nodded as Booth walked away to call Brennan. Once Booth was out of hearing range Carson nodded to another agent to come over.

"Call Dr. Lance Sweets. Tell him he's needed at F.B.I. headquarters immediately but for him to not call Agent Booth."


	10. Chapter 10

10.

ASC: Sldlovespandf15, there's a little jean jacket action in here just for you. :)

* * *

"I'm running a triangulation now of all the possible targets based on Wilson's threats he's ranted about in previous posts." Angela said over the speaker to Booth.

"How many possible targets?" Booth asked to which Hodgins replied fifty seven.

"Great, how can we narrow that down?" Booth asked.

"We can make a lot of assumptions." Angela answered looking at the map full of red dots.

"Well he wants to draw attention this time based on the threat he gave to Booth which suggests a high loss of life." Brennan began. "So I would suggest removing any structures that would be less populated and any place that would include a death toll of under a dozen."

Angela tapped on her computer screen. "Thirty six." She said.

"I would go higher than a dozen." Hodgins suggested. "The guy is in custody. He's not getting out. If he's going down he's going to take a lot of people with him."

"What's the opposite end Angela, what are the highest casualty locations?" Booth asked.

"There are seven locations." Angel said with a sigh, "all with possible death tolls over five thousand."

"Well shit." Booth said.

* * *

The door slowly creaked open and Wilson looked up. He was anxiously waiting, he could tell it wasn't going to be either of the two agents from before. His smile widened as Dr. Lance Sweets closed the door behind him.

* * *

"Wilson Thompson, is that correct?" Sweets asked slowly sitting down and opening a file folder.

Wilson observed Sweets casual nature of his dark jeans, black tee, Converse and jean jacket which Sweets slid off to put on the chair behind him. Sweets did it as a suggestion that he was willing to stay as long as it took.

Wilson also noticed the bruises on Sweets arms, the stitched and fresh scar on his head at the hairline, and the slowness of which Sweets moved. It pleased him to see Sweets in such pain though Sweets was trying his best to hide it behind gritted teeth. Sitting in the hard metal chair shot pains thru Sweets fractured ribs.

He wondered if he should have taken a pain medication after all but he hardly had time to dress as agents were so quickly at his door to escort him to the Hoover building as it was. Not that he wanted to be loopy on pain meds for this anyway. He tried to compartmentalize the pain and set it aside as he concentrated on Wilson.

Sweets looked the man in the eye, continuously building his profile of the lunatic.

"I am Wilson Thompson." The man finally answered Sweets question from earlier. "What would you like to know?"

Sweets suppressed a grin. "Where is the bomb?"

"Let's not jump so far ahead." Wilson suggested. "I'd like to get to know you first."

"I'm Dr. Lance Sweets, a psychologist and profiler for the F.B.I. I like to catch criminals and watch them rot behind bars."

"Ooh, a little harsh don't you think?" Wilson teased.

"Not harsh enough." Sweets said not backing down from Wilson's creepy glare.

"You have a lot of experience with criminals?" Wilson asked.

"Of course." Sweets answered.

"I mean personal experience." Wilson noticed a twitch in Sweets' expression. "It must have led to your interest in the F.B.I."

"What led you to be interested in being caught by the F.B.I?" Sweets countered back.

"Making a change in the world." Wilson answered and Sweets mentally noted he got him to answer a question that didn't circle to another question.

"Does a change in the world have to involve personally removing people from it?" Sweets asked.

"Certain people." Wilson answered and eyed Sweets.

"I wasn't aware I offended you Mr. Thompson." Sweets said holding his composure.

"You all offend me. Materialistic drones to an all mighty dollar." Wilson began to rant. Sweets didn't give him room to continue.

"But yet you have a computer on which to broadcast your rants." Sweets said looking at photos of the man's apartment. "Did you buy your materialistic drone like laptop?" Sweets asked pushing the man who narrowed his eyes.

"An end to a means." Wilson hissed. "A tool of your own destruction to kill…"

"And your tee shirt there, for raging against the machine you certainly chose a name brand to be splashed across the front." Sweets teased but with a deep seriousness.

"It was free, I picked it up at.."

"But you still wear it." Sweets said looking down at his own black tee. "I guess my shirt has nothing to say would you like to borrow it?" Sweets asked clearly in control of the conversation.

"Would you like the blood of thousands on your hands?" Wilson asked reclaiming control of the conversation.

Sweets leaned back in the chair viewing the conversation now as it was, a veritable chess game, the lives sat as pawns.

"How will the loss of thousands of lives as you say, gain you ground?" Sweets asked.

"It won't. But you see, I don't care about them. You do."

"You've got me there. I do. I care a lot about them." Sweets said laying a couple of inner cards on the table. "So it looks like we are at a stalemate."

"Not yet." Wilson said. "You know the expression, lives of the few are worth the sum of the many?"

"So who are the few?" Sweets asked playing along.

"Just one. Just you."

* * *

"Booth we've run thru a hundred scenarios. I'm not sure…" Angela began with a voice tired and out of options but paused as Booth's phone buzzed as they were speaking over a webcam. The rest of Jeffersonian team welcomed the break as well.

"Booth." He answered hoping for good news. "He what?!" Booth screamed in the phone. He hung up and the team looked on.

"Carson called Sweets, he's in the interrogation room with Wilson." Booth said scurrying away. The rest of the team decided to head to the Hoover building in Brennan's wake who had a head start on them.

* * *

"So you are asking me to lay down my life in return for the lives of the thousands?" Sweets asked as Booth stepped in the interrogation room. Booth did not like what he had just heard.

"What the hell is going on here?" Booth boomed knowing Sweets and Wilson couldn't hear him. Booth was denied access to the interrogation room directly.

"We're trying to find the bomb Agent Booth." Carson said in a tight tone.

"I'm not…" Booth began but was cut off by Carson.

"In charge." Carson reminded him.

"Sweets should not be in there." Booth said lowering his voice.

"I think you underestimate Dr. Sweets." Carson warned. Booth knew he and the squints hadn't gotten any further on their own so he looked into the interrogation room reluctantly. He cringed inwardly at the sight of Sweets trying to mask his slump to the side to cover his bruised and pained body. He was concerned if Sweets was really up for this, mentally as well as physically.

"I asked you to lay down your life before but you escaped me." Wilson said as their attention was drawn back to the room.

"Perhaps then it wasn't meant to be." Sweets suggested not wavering any. Booth was impressed with Sweets stature based on the threat that was just waged at Sweets life.

"Come now Dr. Sweets, I would wager that you have no family. Wouldn't it be fair, that out of anyone in your group, that you be the one to die so that everyone else can live?"

Sweets eyes narrowed as he said it. "If I had to, yes I would, willingly." Sweets answered, his voice not wavering any. Booth grinded his teeth at the answer.

"Then do it Dr. Sweets. Finish what I started, take our own life for your friends to see. And I will tell them where the bomb is." Wilson said followed by Sweets eyes meeting his gaze though Sweets showed no emotion.

"This is what I was afraid of." Booth said. "This is a trap."

Carson raised his hand to pause Booth. He watched Sweets carefully who appeared unnerved by the suggestion.

"Your friends put you in a body bag once. They can do it again." Wilson said with a smile when Sweets failed to respond. "How does that feel? To have your friends do that to you?"

"I'm just glad to have friends." Sweets answered, still studying the man across from him.

"Sweets hasn't wavered any." Brennan observed out loud. "He's met each of his hurtful lies and hasn't cracked."

Booth watched the room again as Sweets continued to look at Wilson.

"There is no bomb." Sweets announced and waited to watch the reaction.

Wilson laughed. "You know there is. I don't bluff."

Sweets nodded his head as though he were waiting for an answer he had planned on. Wilson seemed to catch on to Sweets watching him. He stopped smiling as though he had underestimated the young man as well.

"You know Dr. Sweets, in the end, that's all we all really are, alone. We only have ourselves." Wilson said less crazy and more serious this time.

Sweets leaned in on the table. "In the end, you'll die alone in this room."

"But I'll have achieved a greater goal than you."

"You have achieved nothing in your time."

"My time is coming to an end. Only you can keep your friend's alive. I can help. You can save them."

Sweets smiled a broad smile and got up. He looked at Wilson one more time as Wilson smiled expectantly.

"I think I'll choose door number two. There's friends behind my door." Sweets said pointing a thumb to it.

"You'll cost them their lives." Wilson shouted as Sweets walked out the door.

"That was a waste of time." Carson announced as Booth and Brennan both rolled their eyes and walked out of the observation booth.

Once they exited they rounded the corner to see Sweets leaning against the door frame now looking pale and out of breath. They rushed over as Cam, Angela & Hodgins were stepping off the elevator, having rode in a separate car not able to catch Brennan. They saw Sweets and were immediately concerned as well.

"Come on Sweets, let's get you home." Booth said reaching out to grab his shoulder but Sweets straightened up too fast and grabbed his side. Brennan reached out to help but he waved her off.

"No, we have to find the bomb." Sweets said standing up the rest of the way and trying not to wince as he did so.

"Well we've been trying but…" Hodgins began.

"It's in the F.B.I. building." Sweets said gritting his teeth. He was surprised that it still hurt so much. Maybe it was sitting too long he thought.

"What? That's impossible." Booth said but he knew it sadly was not.

"Wilson, he said that if I could die and everyone else live, where would that be?" Sweets said and the group realized they were now all at the F.B.I. building, playing into Wilson's hand.

"This would be a perfect spot for Wilson." Hodgins began as he pieced it together. "He hates the F.B.I. so it would be a target for him."

"Yeah but he would die too right?" Angela asked.

"Because in the end we are all alone." Sweets repeated. "He's ready to die for his cause. He's been caught, he wants to be a martyr now."

"You!" Booth shouted to a passing agent. "Get the director here now. We need to evacuate the building. Get the bomb squad in here."

"Okay, I think we need to go." Cam added.

"No, we need to find that bomb." Hodgins said.

"I actually agree with Hodgins. He's got it set to go off soon. The only variable was how long to get us all assembled here." Sweets said.

"He didn't think you would figure it out." Booth said looking at Sweets.

"I think he wanted it to go off while we were in the room, like before, one bomb going off at time so he could watch the reactions." Sweets explained.

"Well let's rob him of that satisfaction." Booth said.

"Let's get a schematic of the building." Angela suggested and soon she was accommodated.

"Any idea of where to look?" Cam asked feeling nervous to still be in the building.

They looked over the building schematics and made various suggestions where a bomb could be placed. Options ranged from repair men to delivery services and so on.

"Come on guys, this is the F.B.I." Booth reminded them. "We do have _some_ security around here.

Sweets turned his head with curiosity.

"Dr. Brennan was all of the evidence from the explosion sent to the Jeffersonian?" Sweets asked.

"No, only the particulates and the remains the rest was sent here as evidence." She explained.

Booth looked at Sweets figuring out what he was getting at.

"The evidence room." Booth said and Sweets nodded.

Booth turned to run to the evidence room while the others began pursuit.

"Wait, what?" Angela asked.

"It's perfect!" Hodgins said as they followed suit. "Well, in that crazy whack job way. He put the bomb in with the items to be categorized to go with the evidence.

They entered the room and soon located the evidence boxes from the case. Sweets hand quivered at his side some as he saw the bits that made the bombs that exploded around him not too long ago.

"Oh God." Cam said having found a small device that let off a light hum, barely noticeable. Small yet powerful it appeared to be a distorted metal. But really it was a decoy, within lay a bomb, set to go off in two minutes.


	11. Chapter 11

11.

"Lose track of time?" Booth asked Wilson as they reentered the interrogation room.

Wilson looked at them with a grin. It quickly vanished as Booth tossed the deactivated bomb on the table. Wilson's smile instantly faded as he grew pale. Booth's grin widened as he looked to Sweets who smiled as well.

"Not so chatty now are ya?" Booth asked with his boyish grin.

Wilson looked back at Booth and then to Sweets, speechless.

"Well, I think we have everything right Sweets?" Booth asked and Sweets nodded.

"I think we're good." Sweets said and they stood up to leave, looking to Wilson once more with a certain amount of satisfaction.

Booth turned to the door but Sweets paused.

"You know, you can be alone, but you're never really lonely." Sweets said as he left.

Booth smiled. "Oh he won't be all that lonely in jail. I'm sure he'll make some, uh, friends."

They shut the door as Wilson's shocked face looked at the closed door.

* * *

"What do you think of that?" Booth said raising his glass to which the others followed at the Four Fathers.

"Case closed." Cam said. "And very glad to say so."

The others nodded having had a few already. The group downed their drink, attempting to calm nerves that had been unsteady since holding the active bomb. They were happy to have the bomb squad arrive in time and deactivate it since there was no time to run from the building and most people hadn't been evacuated anyway.

"And a job well done." Booth said to Sweets who seemed preoccupied.

"Yes, but the whole team." Sweets said deflecting the attention off himself.

"That was impressive Sweets. I'll admit I don't usually think very highly… ouch!" Brennan said as Booth smiled at her having stepped on her toe. "But you figured out what we could not. And you saved a lot of lives."

"We all do something. Today was just a good day." Sweets said finishing his drink. Brennan wondered if he should really be drinking Scotch though some was left.

"Well I hate to break up the party, but we'd better pick up Michael Vincent." Angela said.

"We should be getting home to Christine as well." Brennan announced.

"Dr. Sweets, how about I give you a ride home?" Cam offered and Sweets remembered he didn't have a car and nodded. For some reason she wasn't quite ready to leave the young man on his own, something nagged at her.

"Yeah, let me just pay." Sweets said reaching for a wallet he hoped he had brought along in his mad dash to leave the house.

"I got this." Booth said. "We'll catch up." The rest knew that Booth wanted a moment alone with Sweets who was busy rubbing his right ribs.

"Sweets, you uh…" Booth said pointing to his side.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine, just sat funny I think." Sweets said. "Really though Booth, I can pay, I'm pretty sure I brought my wallet."

"No it's not that, I was just thinking, about before all this, and the diner a few days ago and then everything Wilson said." Booth said. He realized he wanted to say something but now that he was saying it he wasn't comfortable. "He was wrong you know, you were wrong, in the diner the other day, you know. There's someone out there."

Sweets smiled knowing where Booth was going and cut him short knowing his discomfort on this topic.

"Booth." Sweets said stopping him. "Thanks. And yeah, maybe, one day."

"Lots of time left kid." Booth said dropping some bills on the table to pay.

Sweets drew his glass up and drank the rest of the scotch in it. He sat it down on the table and swirled the bottom of it, noticing now a small trace of undissolved white powder in the bottom.

Booth was a few feet away when he heard the crash to the floor. He turned around to see Sweets on the floor, leaning up against the bar, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

"Sweets?" Booth asked as he turned back. The group saw Booth turn and run back and rushed back inside.

"Sweets?!" Booth said as another patron was already calling 911. "Sweets. What's going on?" Booth asked and looked at the glass still in Sweets hand only to see the white substance in the bottom that Sweets had also seen.

Sweets eyes rolled over to momentarily concentrate on Booth's.

"I guess time's up." Sweets said as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Booth wondered for a second as the ambulance approached if Wilson had won after all.


	12. Chapter 12

12.

"I don't know how many lives you've got kid." A low voice said as Sweets came to. His eyes focused slowly to see Carson standing over him.

"Wha…" Sweets said trying to clear his throat.

"Just hold off on the talking." Carson said and Sweets looked around to see he was at the Jeffersonian on Dr. Brennan's couch. "You're pretty lucky to have such knowledgeable friends." Carson added as the group turned towards Sweets as Carson waved them in.

They rushed in and sighed a breath of relief that Sweets was awake.

"Good, it worked." Hodgins said obviously the brain child of something.

"I told you it would!" Finn added in hitting Hodgins on the shoulder.

"What…" Sweets asked rubbing his head.

"You were drugged." Brennan said. "Agent Carson found some of the substance on Wilson Thompson as he was being processed. When the emergency call came in that an agent was down he brought it. We hardly had enough trace in the bottom of the glass so it was a good thing he had it."

"I analyzed it and we were able to determine it was a rare flower from Cambodia…" Hodgins began but Booth waved his hands to put him off. It was obvious the lingo was giving Booth a headache.

"Wilson, he paid off one of his compatriots to slip it in your drink." Booth said. "The guy didn't know it was deadly."

"How did he know to do that?" Sweets asked trying to string the words together. The remainder of the substance in his system was making it hard to think.

"Apparently he thought there was a chance you were going to run from the building and leave us." Brennan said. "Or so Agent Carson said in his follow up interview with Wilson."

Carson was caught off guard by Brennan's directness and simply nodded.

"He obviously didn't know you." Booth said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, he should have known I would need a ride home." Sweets joked and it took them a second to get it.

"You've got a good team here." Carson said getting up to leave, he felt like what he was, an interloper on the team. "With all their science stuff, they saved you Dr. Sweets."

"And he us." Cam added and they all smiled.

"We don't have to go for another drink do we?" Sweets asked and they all laughed.


End file.
